


shark in the water

by reginaswanmills



Series: grey’s oneshots [1]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23794372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginaswanmills/pseuds/reginaswanmills
Summary: They mold themselves together on Meredith’s big couch. Three warm bodies, hearts cold yet so heavy and full, with exhausted limbs and hazed eyes. The world slowly fades away, and they are allowed to just be.
Relationships: Cristina Yang/Arizona Robbins, Meredith Grey/Arizona Robbins, Meredith Grey/Cristina Yang, Meredith Grey/Cristina Yang/Arizona Robbins
Series: grey’s oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714216
Comments: 11
Kudos: 40





	shark in the water

**Author's Note:**

> i’ve been rewatching grey’s anatomy during this quarantine. i’ve decided my otp’s & ot3’s need to be written. i have a list on my tumblr, but here a few you can request. 
> 
> meredith/cristina/arizona. meredith/cristina/alex. meredith/cristina/izzie. meredith/cristina/mark. meredith/derek/addison. meredith/derek/cristina. april/lexie/alex. cristina/izzie/alex. cristina/april/arizona. amelia/april/arizona. feel free to suggest some!

Cristina Yang has never been good with relationships. She’d always considered herself to be cold, and some even fed into her being heartless, and she was never perceived as warm and cuddly. 

With these two, perfect blondes with warm hearts, she is not that person. She is not the person who can keep a straight face whilst telling a family their son died, or getting the job done despite everyone else’s emotional trauma, or even the person she was in the beginning. 

She had changed. Some say she’s softened over time, some say she’s hardened. It hurts to know her coworkers think of her as a cold bitch, but she never alerts them to this. She lets them make jokes about her being an emotionless robot, and she never tells a soul — not even the freaking therapist Webber often requires them all to see. 

But the two blondes, each perfect and endearing in their own way, never let her feel that way in their presence. It’s always soft smiles, gentle touches, reminders of love, and caring hands that brush over her back. They welcome her with open arms. They see all parts of her, and they don’t run. They stay, and they love her. 

+

Arizona stumbles into the kitchen just after nine, rubbing her eyes and accepting the mug Meredith slides her way. She’s in one of Cristina’s grey night shirts and a pair of white pajama bottoms, and they already know she has no plans of changing. 

( Not like they had — though, that has more to do with the shared morning shower and promise of comfortable hoodies. ) 

Webber has given them the day off — alongside Karev and Torres, who both avoid the house at this moment in time. — due to extended work hours. Of course, afternoon tequila is off limits, in case a major surgery comes in. 

“Hi,” Meredith presses herself into the side of Arizona’s shoulder, and nuzzles her head in a way she would’ve never done if others were watching. But it’s just Cristina, with adoring brown eyes and a smile hidden behind her coffee. “Hi.” 

She says it twice, because they both know she loathes the greeting of ‘good morning.’ She claims it’s mostly forced, and it’s rare people are genuinely having a good morning. Most of the time, she drags her feet and the sky is gloomy, and she just wants to collapse in exhaustion; and it is not a good morning unless it’s like today, in which they get her soft smiles and sweet words. 

Arizona smiles down at her, wraps one arm around her waist to draw her closer. “Hi yourself.” She kisses the top of her head, taking another sip of her coffee. Her eyes cross the room until they land on Cristina, who is sitting atop the counter in clothes that definitely do not belong to her, and with a brown paper bag beside her. 

She raises a curious brow. “You went out?” 

“Delivery,” Cristina says, sliding the bag further away. “Still warm.” She’d never been a huge fan of donuts before, but living with two sweet tooth’s has taken its toll. 

Arizona nods. It’s a blissful silence for a few moments — the two of them sipping at drastically different coffees, and Meredith taking in her morning snuggles. The sun doesn’t shine too bright, just enough to heat up the counter and make Cristina want to nap right there. These are the kind of romantic movie things Cristina hated with Preston and Owen, but the kind of things she hates less with Arizona and Mer. 

She hates a lot of things less. She smiles more, feels her cold heart swell inside her chest more. She doesn’t mind the taste of sugary sweet coffee when Arizona kisses her, or the smell of vanilla that invaded her senses whenever Meredith lunges at her. She’s at peace now, no more wars in her life. 

“Thank you,” Arizona says with a smile, when Mer untangles herself and heads for the bathroom. Cristina barely registers it, too deep in her head about all of the things that have made her life brighter in the best way possible, and blinks when Arizona is standing right in front of her. “You’re too sweet.” 

She knows for a fact Cristina made the call to order, because Meredith doesn’t get up unless there’s a promise of food or sex. 

Cristina scoffs in disgust, but Arizona only smiles — sweetly, knowingly, as if she knows more about Cristina than she herself does. 

( She probably does. She has probably psycho analyzed her in depth already. The fact that she hasn’t run for the hills is a bit concerning. ) 

“Just eat it,” Cristina sighs, but makes no move to leave the warm hand that is drawn up to her cheek. A thumb strokes across her cheekbone. “I’m not Mer.” She will accept kisses or Meredith latching onto her, but cuddles between Arizona and her are not common for mornings, unless they’re in bed. 

( It’d taken awhile to even persuade Cristina to join in on their cuddle fests during movie night. ) 

“I know you’re not.” She leans in, and Cristina can taste the savory caramel creamer, contrasting to her pitch black coffee. “You’re Cristina Yang, and I love you.” 

Cristina smiles. She beams, actually, which almost matches the beam her girlfriend is giving. 

She stares. She takes in Arizona’s high cheekbones, bright eyes, curved ears. The blonde curls that hang into her face, and the neck she’d burrowed into last night. 

“Me too.” When they both turn, Meredith is running from the hall to them, apparently done with the bathroom, and wanting to be in on this. She stops just before them, uses her arms to push herself up, and kisses Cristina soundly. She speaks in the adorable, childish voice they’ve both grown fond of. “I love you, Cristina Yang.” 

+

They put on a movie, one of Arizona’s favorites, and Meredith’s head ends up in Cristina’s lap, because they both know sitting still has never been the brunette’s strong suit. Her feet wind up in Arizona’s lap, but Arizona leans over until her hand finds Cristina, and she traces patterns on the back of it. 

Although she does find movies boring, alongside sitting still and not having a list of things to do, she wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. She enjoys her time with the two blondes, who have wormed their way into her heart, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything. 

“Taco Bell,” she says just before Annie is going to sing about the sun shining. “We should have Taco Bell.” 

“For dinner?” Arizona raises a brow, finally takes her eyes off the screen. Meredith turns her head, so she can see both of their faces. 

Cristina nods. She waits a minute, until the lyrics are flying from the actresses mouth, and both of her girlfriends are still waiting. They are so in sync. They know her so well. They know she’s dying to speak. 

“Do you think we’re missing anything big?” 

( They’re not. If they were, they would’ve been paged. ) 

“Nothing they can’t handle,” Arizona assures, because she can see through enough of Cristina’s exterior to know she’s worried about Shane controlling the cardio department for a day. “Hunt is there.” 

Probably not the best thing to say, all things considered. Their relationship ended badly, and she blames herself more than a person ever should, and it’s one of the biggest reasons she is not good at relationships; but she insists everything is fine, because she is now in a happy and healthy relationship. 

“Hunt’s an ass,” Meredith grumbles, hand flying to Cristina’s knee. Arizona’s hand tightens on her own. It’s something they can all agree on. “We should kick him.” 

( Kick him to the curb. Kick him from the hospital. Kick him from ever having any contact with any of their lives. ) 

“We can do that, you know.” 

( Because they own the hospital, all parts of it. Because they were in a fatal plane crash. Because they lived though a very traumatic event. This is their compensation. ) 

“No.” She doesn’t want to use their powers for bad, even if it’s endearing to see Mer’s protective side resurface. “But we should find a new head of ortho.” 

Arizona flinches. 

( Because Callie is leaving soon, taking off to New York in a big jet, and taking their daughter with them. The daughter who has her own room in this house. Who Meredith and Cristina adore spending time with, and constantly endure tea parties for. ) 

It’s still a sore subject.

Meredith’s free hand, the one that isn’t on Cristina’s knee, extends over her crumpled form for Arizona’s. They sit there, holding hands, and laying in what won’t be a comfortable position for too long. Mind numbing worry takes over Cristina’s body, and she fears that she said the wrong thing at the wrong time, until Arizona leans over to kiss her cheek. 

\+ 

They’re surgeons. They don’t like staying put. They’re all the type to jump into action head first, trained to save lives and actually do things. They’re not made to be bystanders. 

So, the second Cristina’s phone goes off, with Webber’s assistant ringing them to hurry, she shoots off the couch like a rocket. Meredith follows, grumpily, pulling on her sneakers with a tired face. Arizona helps her up, yawning herself, and rushes off to change. 

( “The tiny humans are the most important.” ) 

“What do we have in here?” Cristina demands, rushing in to survey the damage. Her girlfriends are right behind her — because it’s a kid, with a heart defect and a brain aneurysm. The cases in which they’re allowed to work together are the best cases. 

“Tyler Walsh. Eleven years old,” Shane fires off, before going into a rapid explanation of the situation, while Cristina presses a stethoscope to the kid’s chest. From the corner of her eyes, she sees Meredith reviewing charts a nurse pushes into her hands, and Arizona is waiting to push his bed to the OR. 

They get to save a life together. 

+


End file.
